The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
In the recreational vehicle industry it is common to outfit a recreation vehicle (“RV”) with at least one waste holding tank. More commonly, RVs are outfitted with two such independent tanks: a “black water” tank for holding semi solid waste and a grey water tank for holding grey water. Emptying the two tanks has traditionally not been particularly easy and convenient. Some waste containing/draining systems rely on gravity and the hookup of a drain hose for emptying the contents of the tanks. This can limit draining the waste tanks up terrain into an elevated sewer dump station. It also does not allow for draining the waste tanks of the RV into an indoor toilet, such as when the user returns to his/her home with the RV and wishes to empty the waste tanks, via a suitably long drain hose, into an indoor bathroom toilet.
More recent waste draining system, such as the Sani-Con® holding tank emptying system, have proven to be extremely popular for simplifying the task of draining the waste tanks on an RV. The Sani-Con® holding tank is available from the assignee of the present disclosure and is a waste emptying system that employs a macerator pump that may be coupled to a drain port on each of the black water and grey water tanks of an RV. A long, flexible and stretchable, heavy duty one inch diameter drain hose is coupled to the macerator pump. The macerator pump grinds and liquefies black waste water and pumps it through the drain hose. The drain hose has a threaded nozzle at its end which is designed to fit securely to a variety of pump station inlets. The Sani-Con® holding tank emptying system eliminates the need for gravity in draining the waste tanks as well as associated hose supports and other components that are often needed with a gravity-based drain system. The Sani-Con® system has dramatically simplified the ease and convenience with which waste tanks may be emptied on an RV and enabled the emptying of waste tanks directly into up terrain sewer dump station or into indoor toilets.
In spite of the significant advances provided by the Sani-Con® holding tank emptying system, there is a continuing desire to even further enhance the ease and convenience in emptying waste holding tanks used on RVs. In general, the less handling of hoses, connecting fittings, etc., the easier and more convenient the emptying of waste tanks on an RV will be for the user.